Biography
Fred Baldwin believes that the Pennsylvania Legislature needs more members who have found ways to save money on education while helping schools improve. His 16 years on the Carlisle Area School Board, including 12 years as its president, convinced him that public education can and should be less dependent on property taxes. He also thinks that there are better measures of school quality than the way test scores are now tabulated.
Educational innovations and money-saving measures during Fred’s tenure on the Carlisle School Board include teacher-driven investments in educational technology, a rapidly expanding Internet-based curriculum, leadership in developing a multi-district self-insurance program that slowed the increase of health care costs, and generation of electricity from solar energy (starting this October), expected to save the district hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.
Whether the goal is curbing waste or spreading good ideas, Fred sees transparency is the key to getting value for tax dollars. His blog on public school finance issues has attracted statewide attention. He wants to post more online information on state spending and strengthen the state’s Open Records Law.
He’s running for the open seat in the 199th district in Cumberland County, where the local economy depends heavily on agriculture. Fred believes that farmers, hunters and environmentalists – groups sometimes wary of each other – can be natural allies in environmental preservation. “Keeping open land,” he says, “depends on ensuring that farmers can make money at farming.”
Fred has a Ph.D. in American history. He’s been self-employed for 20 years as a freelance writer. He is also the author of a book on corporation law and has written extensively on health, information technology and economic development. He’s married with two children.